Hi IISers,
Just a few other things to add to this thread that might be interesting to others.
The "name game" is a bit of a roulette wheel it would seem -- if you follow some of the events of history in astronomy. Sometimes it sticks sometimes it can end up in your face.
It is not really widely known that the names of the four major Jovian moons -- the Galilean moons have only relatively recently come the be accepted nomenclature for these bodies.
Take a look at the claim, counter claim and counter, counter claim by Galileo and Simon Marius over who discovered these moons and who got to name them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galilean_moon
Marius also went on to claim he discovered the Andromeda Spiral (M31) but he was discredited when it became apparent it had been noted centuries earlier by Arab astronomers. The excellent names (actually much better than Galileo's) proposed by the "cheat" Marius were not really accepted until last century (1900s) more than 300 years later.
From Moons we move to the issue of planets and we all know what sort of angst Herschel caused when he proposed the name for his newly discovered planet Georgium Sidus (King George's star) after King George III. Did the annual stipend granted to Herschel by the king have any bearing on his decision. Sacrebleu!!
Then on to constellations and what a tortured web of self-servedness and sycophantic behaviour surrounds this old chestnut. Of the many constellations concocted over the centuries to serve a political purpose, gladly only one remains -- Scutum Sobiescianum which was invented by Johannes Hevelius supposedly to honour King John of Poland for his glorious miliitary victory over the Turks --or was it because said king re-built Hevelius' observatory after it burned down? Hmmm ...
Then there is the case of the great scientist Edmund Halley (who later became "Sir" Edmund Halley) following his invention of the now defunct constellation Robur Carolinium.
Then we have Lacaille -- champion of the concepts small, faint and insignificant who decided to "colour in" just about every gap in the southern sky. But the constellation name game is even older, much older than that!
Witness the three brightest stars in Libra whose names tell of a more ancient home as part of Scorpius. The Romans stole these important stars from Scorpius to invent Libra that was said to represent the qualities of the Roman way -- the good things like balance, fairness, justice, taxation, and crucifixion.
Stars haven't escaped either and the case of how Alpha and Beta Delphini received their monikers is a representitive example and detailed in short here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphinus_constellation
So, largely as a result of all this skulldugery (and more, much much more)the IAU introduced rules governing the naming of just about everything in the sky.
But one little area has escaped their attention till now ...
This name game is a serious business. For some it has bought fame and money, for others - ignomony.
Best,
Les D
"For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream." -- Vincent van Gogh